Today's Edition
WASHINGTON (AFP)
US President Donald Trump announced an additional 100 percent tariff on China on Friday.
Trump said the extra levies, plus US export controls on "any and all critical software," would come into effect from November 1.
"It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History," he said on Truth Social, referring to Chinese export curbs on rare earth minerals.
Stock markets fell as the simmering trade war between the United States and China reignited, with the Nasdaq down 3.6 percent and the S&P 500 down 2.7 percent.
Chinese goods currently face US tariffs of 30 percent under tariffs that Trump brought in earlier this year. China's retaliatory tariffs are currently at 10 percent.
Trump had threatened the tariffs hours earlier in a lengthy surprise post on his Truth Social network that said China had sent letters to countries around the world detailing export controls on rare earth minerals.
Rare earth elements are critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to military hardware and renewable energy technology. China dominates global production and processing of the materials.
Washington and Beijing engaged in a tariffs war earlier this year that threatened to effectively halt trade between the world's two largest economies. Both sides eventually agreed to de-escalate tensions.
Trump had said last week that he would push Xi Jinping on US soybean purchases during a proposed meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this month, but has since called the meeting plans into question. It was to be the first encounter between the leaders of the world's two largest economies since Trump returned to power in January.
China had said earlier Friday that it would impose "special port fees" on ships operated by and built in the US after Washington announced charges for Chinese-linked ships in April.
In a further development, the US communications watchdog said it had successfully managed to get listings for banned Chinese items removed from commerce platforms.
